Oh and there's some...colourful language in this chapter! Just to warn any younger readers!

He'd be a Fool Not To

Rory
came to, a gentle breeze blowing across her body, gooseflesh
peppering her bare arms. She could feel something gliding through her
hair, cool digits caressing the back of her neck. Rory sighed in
pleasure, caught up in the feel but it was suddenly cut short when a
freezing cold cloth was laid over her forehead. She furrowed her
brows, a hiss fleeing her lips and her hand shot up to wipe at the
drops of water that were running down the side of her face, tickling
her.

"Rory?"
a familiar concerned voice made itself known and Rory instantly
opened her eyes.

She
blinked a couple times, feeling like she'd come out of an endless
sleep, squinting from the bright rays of the sun, sitting high in the
sky. Her forehead wrinkled, lips forming a thin line as she tried to
remember what had happened.

"Rory?"
Tristin's voice called out again and Rory felt what she'd now
deemed as his hand pull from her hair. He shifted out from behind her
and she pushed herself up onto her elbows. "You scared me, Mare,"
he admitted and Rory felt her lips widening in a smile.

She
pushed herself up further, sitting cross legged and reached forward,
her palm laying flat against his jaw. She titled her head to the
side, her lips quirking into a half smile. "Sorry," she
whispered, feeling herself getting lost in his amazing blue eyes.

Tristin
shook his head, a look covering his face that Rory couldn't
determine. Then he leaned forward, one hand wrapping around the curve
of her neck and the other pressing into the small of her back. He
pulled her to him, a frantic edge to his actions and Rory gasped as
his lips captured hers, kissing her fiercely and stealing her breath
from her.

Rory
could only clutch at his shirt, letting him take control and
submitting completely. She exhaled loudly when he pulled away,
staying close to her, his breath hot against her face and his eyes
boring into hers.

"What
happened Rory?" he asked, his face softening and pulling away only
slightly.

Rory
narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment, her head swimming from
his bruising kiss. She thought back to what happened earlier at
school and suddenly she was attacked by the memory.

His
haunting angered eyes…

His
hands digging into her skin, bruising her arms and her neck…

His
scathing words and the fear he'd made rise up inside her…

Tears
started to build in her eyes, her body shaking with their intensity.
She shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face, shielding
her from Tristin. She didn't want to tell him what happened; she
knew he would be furious, she knew he would want to kill Gary.

"Rory?"

Rory
slowly let her eyes meet his and she watched as his widened before he
wrapped his arms around her body, bringing her into his embrace.
Tristin easily lifted her up from the bench she was sitting on and
sat down with her cradled in his lap.

He
ran his hand through her hair, kissing her forehead and whispering
soothing and comforting words into her ear. His grip on her tightened
as his concern grew. He needed to know what had happened to her.
Something had made her cry…someone had made his Mary cry…

Tristin
gritted his teeth through the anger flooding his body. He vowed to
himself that he wouldn't lose control yet, not until he knew what
happened to shaken girl in his arms.

He'd
never felt so much fear as he did when he saw her fall in the hallway
earlier. Her eyes had connected with his, seconds passed; he could
remember the relief painted on her face. He'd been about to go to
her when all of a sudden her legs gave way.

He'd
been at her side in an instant, picking her up and cradling her to
his chest. He'd been running on autopilot, trying to remember
everything he could from First Aid. Deryk had been talking to him but
Tristin would never be able to tell you what he said, his attention
had been focussed solely on Rory.

Tristin
looked down at the girl in his arms, tears still falling from her
eyes, his heart breaking with every new one. He tilted her chin up,
kissing away her tears, trying in vain to calm her down. He needed
her to tell him what happened.

"Tris…"
her voice called to him and he let himself feel relieved for a short
moment. At least she was talking again, that had to be a good sign.
"…he tried to….I was so scared…"

His
entire body tensed at that one sentence she managed to choke out. He
tried to… His blood was boiling, anger and rage fuelling his
body, making his fists curl inwards, his teeth gnaw together, and his
nostrils flare.

"Who
Rory?" he asked her, trying his hardest to maintain a gentle voice.
He didn't want to upset her further. "What did he do?"

Rory
shook her head and wrapped her fingers around his shirt, pulling
herself further into his embrace. She was slowly calming down, her
tears stopping and her heart rate slowing. Just being in Tristin's
arms was helping; he made her feel so safe, like nothing bad could
ever happen.

"Please…tell
me, Mary," Tristin pleaded, kissing her on the crown of her head.
He looked up and happened to see Deryk coming closer, hovering about
five feet away. Tristin shook his head minutely, letting him know he
hadn't figured out what had happened yet.

Rory
gulped and squeezed her eyes shut. "He kept saying he wanted
me…that it was…his turn," she managed to tell him and when she
heard him curse under his breath she pulled away, looking into his
fiery eyes. "He insulted my mom…kept saying I was going to follow
in her footsteps…"

Tristin
had to close his eyes and count to ten in his head to curb his anger.
He'd never before had this insane urge to maim someone before but
whoever said these things to Rory, he wanted them six feet under.

"Who?"
It was the only thing he could concentrate on.

Rory
looked into his eyes, scared of the deadly glint shining in them. She
knew he would go ballistic once she told him; it scared her to know
that she almost wanted him to. Gary was an asshole, but she managed
to look past how much he disgusted her and had terrified her. She
knew violence wasn't the right way to solve this, but Rory wasn't
naïve enough to think Tristin wouldn't hurt him.

She
stared straight into his angry blue eyes and sighed. "Gary," she
told him finally, her voice almost inaudible.

Tristin
swore he saw red the minute that name left her lips. He tried to
check his anger; he bit through his tongue, blood spurting into his
mouth. Tristin growled and stood up, picking Rory up and standing her
up beside him, calling over to Deryk in one fluid motion.

"Who?"
Deryk asked immediately and Rory could see the irritation and anger
in him also, and she was beyond surprised at that.

Tristin
sneered, "Gary."

Rory
watched in horror as Tristin turned to the school and then whispered
something to Deryk, his voice so low, so lethal it sent shivers down
her spine. He turned to her for a split second, his once blue eyes
now black with rage and then started off towards the school.

"Tristin!
No!" she screamed after him, the only though running through her
head was what if he got hurt? She went to run after him but Deryk
caught hold of her arm, restraining her. She shot him a black look
and noticed how apologetic he seemed.

"You
can't let him do this!" she told him, yanking restlessly on her
arm, looking back and forth between him and the school, Tristin
having disappeared inside the front doors. "What if gets hurt?"

Deryk
shook his head. "Dugrey can take care of himself, you shouldn't
worry."

Rory
frowned, glaring at him some more. She took another step forward, his
hand slipping from its grip around her palm to her wrist. She once
again tugged on her arm, hoping it would slip again but his other
hand came up and wrapped around her wrist too.

"Just
let him do this," Deryk told her, surprised at how strong Rory
really was as he had to tightened his grip on her arm again. "He
needs to do this….you can't stop…"

"Oww!"
Rory yelped in earnest when he slipped his hand further up her arm,
his fingers digging painfully into the purple bruise marring her
skin. Pain shot into her arm, making her remember the feeling of
Gary's fingers tightening around her.

Deryk
snapped his attention to her as she cried out, ripping his hand away
from her arm in a split second. He looked down at her arm, the sleeve
of her shirt was pushed up from his hand and he could see the bruises
littering her skin.

Rory
gave him a watery glare but wasted no time before she was off
running, shoes slamming against the stone walkway up to the school.
She had no clue what she was doing but she knew she needed to get to
Tristin, before he did something that got himself hurt or expelled
from school.

- - -

Tristin
knew where to find him.

He
wasted no time in the halls, pushing his way through the crowds of
people, angrily shoving them to the side. Whispers started flooding
the halls, mostly everyone stopping to take note of his determined
stride and the anger coming off of him in waves.

But
Tristin paid them no attention as he walked to Gary's locker. It
was right near his, all the lockers of Chilton's finest were in the
same place. Tristin sneered as he thought there was no way Gary would
ever step foot near there after today.

He
sparingly thought it was odd that he wasn't rushing to him, wasn't
tearing through the halls like a man possessed. He was just walking,
his footsteps echoing through the rapidly quieting halls. He felt
like he was stalking his prey, his body deadly calm…he knew he was
going to win.

Then
he saw Gary, leaning back against his locker, guys surrounding him as
he laughed through telling them some story.

His
eyes narrowed and his jaw ticked away. He quickened his feet, putting
less and less space between him and Gary, making sure everyone could
see that he was coming and that he was pissed.

"Dugrey,"
the man in question stated and Tristin took a second to bask in the
notch of fear in Gary's voice before he was moving closer to him.

"Who
the hell do you think you are?" he asked him, his face within
inches of the smaller guys, breath coming out in hot, short pants as
he tried to control himself from pounding the guy. "You think you
can make a pass at my girlfriend without me knowing?"

Tristin
slammed his fist into the metal locker inches from Gary's head.
"What? You just thought you'd take your turn?" he scoffed, his
lips twisting into a wicked smirk. "You could never just leave her
alone could you? Now you're going to pay," he threatened him.

"Not
with my girlfriend!" Tristin told him and backed away slightly,
running a hand through his hair. "You don't fucking talk to Rory!
You don't touch her again…you get every single thought of her out
of your head or I swear I will kill you."

Gary
nodded his head, to shaken in fear to do anything else. Tristin
smirked and turned around the tiniest bit, just enough to hear the
sigh of relief come from behind him. He fisted his hand again and
quickly made his way back to Gary, whose books fell to the ground as
Tristin advanced…

- - -

Rory
hurriedly ran through the halls. She swallowed her nerves when she
thought of how empty they were, definitely not right, as it was now
just after the lunch bell. She had no clue where Tristin would have
gone and so she was going to make her way to the cafeteria when she
heard a commotion.

Her
head snapped towards the area of Tristin's locker and she wrung her
hands anxiously as she quickened her pace. Her fears rang true though
when she saw the crowd of students in the hallway and Rory bit her
bottom lip. She couldn't see through the crowd and so she quickly
started to push her way through, made easier when people realized it
was her and they parted like the red sea.

Just
as she got to the front of the crowd she heard the thunderous sound
of four hundred page textbooks hitting the ground and when she
finally brought her gaze to the scene before her she saw Tristin was
heading on a collision course with Gary.

Gary
didn't have time to brace himself before Tristin landed the first
punch, swearing at him as he did so. Gary's back slammed into the
locker, his groan ringing out in the school as he doubled over.
Tristin easily kicked him to the floor, pinning Gary down and started
to hit him repeatedly.

Rory
felt sick at the sight of them fighting. Gary pushed Tristin back by
shoving a hand under his jaw and levelled a punch at him catching him
around the nose. As Tristin drew his arm back to hit Gary again Rory
rushed forward, yelling out Tristin's name, her voice desperate.
Tristin looked up at her with anger and disbelief.

"Rory,"
he breathed out, his heart pounding in his chest and his fist still
aimed at Gary's bleeding face. "What are you doing here?"

Rory
frowned and rushed over to his side. She grabbed onto his arm,
pulling with all her might and in Tristin's state of disbelief she
managed to get him off of Gary and onto his feet. The minute he was
standing Gary jumped up and rushed off in the opposite direction, but
Tristin's focus was only on Rory.

"Why
the hell would you do that?" she asked him, concern lacing her
voice as her hand flitted around him, making sure he wasn't
seriously hurt.

Tristin
seemed to break out of his daze and swore out loud when he noticed
that Gary had run off. "Rory, he fucking attacked you…I had to…"
he was cut off by her finger brushing against his lips.

"I'm
fine Tristin," she assured him and when she saw he was about to
protest she quickly cut him off. "I was just in shock over what
happened; I've never been in that kind of situation."

"He's
a bastard Rory, I couldn't let him get away with that," he argued
but then his face softened and he brought a hand to her chin,
caressing her skin with his thumb. "I couldn't let him get away
with hurting you."

"And
you didn't," she said, shuffling closer to him. "But please let
it go, Tris. I don't want you fighting for me," she exclaimed.

He
smiled cockily and wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her
closer so her body bumped into his. "I'll always fight for you,
Mary," he whispered.

Rory
blushed and then looked up into his eyes seriously. "So you'll
let it go, now?" she asked him. "Promise?"

Tristin
sighed, closing his eyes and trying to push all the anger out of his
body. It wasn't that hard when he was holding Rory in his arms
though, he would do anything to make her happy.

"I
promise I won't fight him anymore," he told her, skilfully
evading her real plea. There was no way in hell he was going to let
the whole thing blow over, but there were ways other than violence to
make Gary pay.

He
laughed slightly. "Don't worry about it, Rory," he reassured
her and then leaned down and quickly brushed his lips against hers.
"I promise I'll never let anything happen to you again," he
told her, making her cheeks flush pink again.

Rory
smiled into his eyes. "I know," she said and then brought his
lips down to hers again before she wrapped her arms around his neck
and hugging him to her tightly.

Rory
closed her eyes, sighing contentedly as she pressed her lips to his
neck. She'd come to depend on Tristin so much in such a small time.
He meant the world to her but she'd always wanted it to be perfect.
She'd had a vision of perfection when it came to true love. Being
with Tristin had taught her that while love is always perfect, people
surely aren't. And she was now willing to take the good with the
bad, just as long as that meant he would hold her forever, in his
arms.

- - -

The End

- - -

A/N:
OH MY GOD! I can't believe I've finished this story! My second
one finished. I hope this chapter lived up to it; I tried to make it
balanced between the mushy ending and Tristin getting revenge on
Gary! Hope I did well.

Anyway,
I didn't put my author's note up before the chapter, because
after the huge wait for it I thought you'd probably just want to
read it right away. But! The reason I haven't updated this was
because I was in an accident when I went grocery shopping with my
parents.

When
we got back to the car I opened the automatic sliding door on our van
and went to step in but my mom called over to me about something and
I stopped. My dad was closing the trunk of the car and we have a
button on his key chain that locks the trunk but instead of pressing
it he pressed the button that closes the sliding door. Let me just
say that getting your hand caught in a car door really hurts!

I
ended up breaking one finger and spraining the other one pretty
badly. So I was restricted to not using my hand for a week and a half so that
they could start to heal properly, also the cast made it kind of
impossible to do anything anyway…

But
I was finally able to focus back on my stories! (My sister typed this
up for me, except this note which I'm using my left hand for, so
I'm sorry for any mistakes)

Wow
this is a long note…I hope to get my sister to write out some
chapters for my other stories because I'm actually going on
vacation this coming Friday for two weeks. It's going to suck
though because I won't have a computer and I can't even swim in
the ocean because of my stupid cast thing!

Anyway
I'm complaining too much. I just wanted to let everyone know why I
haven't updated and why it might me a while before I do. We get
back on Agust 21, just to let you know.

I'm
not sure if anyone is still reading this but if you are thank you!
And thanks to everyone who stuck with this story, you guys are
amazing and I love you all! Thanks so much!

Hugs
and Kisses,
-Ella

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.